Boxing Federation holds first executive council meet

New Delhi, Oct 18 (IANS) The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) held its first executive council meeting here on Tuesday, giving rise to hope that the administrative impasse in Indian boxing will be resolved soon.

The meet was chaired by BFI President Ajay Singh and was attended by all executive council members, the body’s ad-hoc chairman Krishen Narsi and other senior officials.

Ajay Singh, the CMD of SpiceJet, was elected as BFI President last month. The polls were monitored by the World Boxing Federation (AIBA) and the Sports Ministry.

“It was informed to the council that the AIBA has in principal, recognized the BFI and the same has been communicated to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) by the AIBA President. The BFI has submitted all the papers for recognition from the sports ministry and affiliation from the IOA,” the BFI said in a statement.

“The meet is a big, positive step as it will help boxers gain much-needed international exposure and technical representation. After remaining directionless for almost four years, boxing in India will get much needed guidance.”

The executive council meeting also decided to revive the national championship which has not been held for several years.

“It was decided that the national boxing championship will be revived in all the categories; the first national championship will be conducted in the senior (elite) women category by Uttarakhand Boxing Association from November 19-24 at Haridwar and the senior (elite) men national boxing championship will be held in Guwahati in December,” the BFI said.

“The council reviewed the presentation made by Uttarakhand Boxing Association. After deliberation the following were decided — National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) will be invited to conduct dope control tests and it will be mandatory for all boxers to participate at the national championship to further qualify for camps and participation in international events.

“Uttarakhand Boxing Association has also proposed cash prizes for all medal winners — gold Rs.20,000, silver Rs.12,000 and bronze Rs.7,000. It was informed that Sports Authority of India (SAI) will facilitate to obtain necessary Railway Concession for all participants.

“All other youth, junior &amp; sub-junior national championships will be held before March 31. Bids will be invited from the state units and the championship will be awarded on the base of merit,” the statement added.

“Temporary affiliation was granted to Services Sports Control Board (SSCB), Steel Plant Sports Board (SPSB), All India Police Sports Control Board (AIPSCB) and Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) so that their athletes can participate in upcoming national championships.”

The BFI also intends to brush up the knowledge of coaches and officials before the national championships.

“It was also decided that a workshop-cum-seminar will be organised for coaches and ring officials during the national championship. The BFI will request the AIBA to send their experts for the same,” the BFI announced.

“It was also decided that to control the borrowing of athletes, a centralized registration process will be launched and all boxers will register in the registration process providing their details i.e. date of birth, address proof, education certificate, etc. A unique ID will be generated for the boxers which will be used for all the further correspondence and entries.”

“It was also decided that financial support will be extended to all the state units for their day-to-day functioning, state championship, etc. All the state units has been requested to submit their proposal for the same at the earliest,” the federation added.